U.S. patent application number 14/454819 was filed with the patent office on 2016-02-11 for electronic candle lighter.
The applicant listed for this patent is Shahnawaaz Mohamedali. Invention is credited to Shahnawaaz Mohamedali.
Application Number | 20160040877 14/454819 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 55262962 |
Filed Date | 2016-02-11 |
United States Patent
Application |
20160040877 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Mohamedali; Shahnawaaz |
February 11, 2016 |
ELECTRONIC CANDLE LIGHTER
Abstract
A battery powered electronic candle lighter that generates an
arc of electricity across electrodes to ignite a candle wick. The
candle wick is positioned within the arc gap and the lighter is
activated to generate an arc. The arc can be maintained by holding
the arc generation button depressed. The very high temperature of
the electrical arc ignites the materials within the candle wick to
cause combustion. The electronic candle lighter of the present
invention also has safety functionality to prevent accidents and
misuse.
Inventors: |
Mohamedali; Shahnawaaz;
(Edmonton, CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Mohamedali; Shahnawaaz |
Edmonton |
|
CA |
|
|
Family ID: |
55262962 |
Appl. No.: |
14/454819 |
Filed: |
August 8, 2014 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
431/258 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F23Q 3/01 20130101 |
International
Class: |
F23Q 3/01 20060101
F23Q003/01 |
Claims
1. An apparatus for igniting candles comprising; an electrical
power source; an electronic circuit; a first switch; and first and
second electrodes at a first end of a housing, wherein the
electrical power source, the switch, and the first and second
electrodes are operatively coupled to the electronic circuit;
whereby activation of the electronic circuit by actuating the first
switch produces an electrical arc between the first and second
electrodes.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the electrical power source and
electronic circuit are positioned in the housing.
3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the housing has an elongated
shape.
4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the housing is sufficiently
elongated to be held by hand and to extend the first and second
electrodes safely into a candle with a wick in a recess while the
hand remains outside the recess.
5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the electrical power source is
rechargeable.
6. The apparatus of claim 5 further comprising a charging base
having an opening to receive the second end of the housing and
thereby charge the power source via the contact terminals.
7. The apparatus of claim 5 further comprising an electric
connection port for receiving a wire electrically coupled to a
power supply to recharge the power source.
8. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the apparatus further comprises
an electrically illuminated status indicator operatively coupled to
the electronic circuit.
9. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising contact terminals at
a second end of the housing.
10. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a second switch,
wherein both the first and second switches are actuated to produce
the electrical arc.
11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the first switch is actuated
a predetermined number of times before the second switch will
operate.
12. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the after the first switch is
actuated the predetermined number of times the second switch is
actuatable for a predetermined period of time.
13. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the heat generated by the
electric arc is sufficient to light a candle wick.
14. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein after actuation of the first
switch, the electrical arc is switched off after a predetermined
time.
Description
FIELD
[0001] This invention generally relates to portable hand held
lighters, and more particularly, with battery powered lighters for
candles.
BACKGROUND
[0002] Existing candle lighters generally use an onboard fuel
source to produce a flame. When the fuel source is depleted the
conventional lighter must be refueled or discarded. Refueling a
conventional lighter requires a canister of pressurized fuel, and
the storage and transfer of such a canister can be dangerous and
inconvenient.
[0003] Some fuel based lighters use a spark from other material
such as flint to ignite the fuel. Some fuel based lighters use a
momentary electrical arc to ignite the fuel. This momentary
electrical arc is generated by a piezoelectric igniter. The igniter
uses a mechanical means to deform a material which can exhibit a
piezo electric effect. Typically a single motion of depressing a
spring loaded trigger creates an impact on the piezo material. This
deformation creates a high voltage in the material and results in a
single spark (arc). This single spark is timed with the release of
fuel and therefore ignites the fuel, producing a maintained flame
at the end of the lighter.
[0004] Another type of lighter that has become more common is a
battery powered lighter that uses electrical power to heat a wire
by means of ohmic heating. These lighters are convenient as they
replace the need for combustible fuel; however they also have
drawbacks associated with the heating wire which must have direct
contact with the material it is lighting. This repetitive contact
can cause damage to the wire and ultimately failure of the lighter.
Additionally the wire expands with heat and this physical property
also produces mechanical fatigue and ultimately failure of the
lighter.
[0005] It is desirable to have a candle lighter that overcomes the
limitations of the previous art such that no fuel or heating wires
would be required.
SUMMARY
[0006] The present invention provides a battery operated candle
lighter that uses a maintained electrical arc to directly ignite
the candle wick. The electrical arc is created between two
electrodes located at one end of the lighter housing. The other end
of the lighter housing is used for holding and operating the
lighter by hand. A switch is located within reach of the hand held
end of the housing.
[0007] As the wick of a candle can be located down within a candle
holder it may be desirable to have an extended length of the
lighter. In one embodiment of the present invention the candle
lighter has an extended length between the handheld end and the
electrode end of the lighter. This extended length makes it easy
and safe for the operator of the lighter to access and light
otherwise hard to reach wick locations.
[0008] An embodiment of the invention includes a housing, an
electric circuit having a switch, a power source, electrodes,
electronic components, and conductors. The purpose of the electric
circuit is to produce an electrical arc between the electrodes.
There are multiple circuit designs that can produce an electric
arc. Some designs are based on oscillators, resonant circuit or
power inverter, step-up transformer, and diode-capacitor voltage
multiplier to name but a few. These circuit designs achieve an
alternating high-voltage discharge or a continuous direct current
discharge. The circuit may be powered by one or more batteries,
capacitors, or super capacitors.
[0009] The internal electrical power source of the present
invention may be rechargeable and therefore a means of recharging
may be provided. In one embodiment of the present invention the
hand held end of the lighter has two contact terminals exposed that
can be contacted when the unit is put into a charging base. The
base is electrically coupled to a supply source of electric power.
When the lighter is inserted into the base the contact terminals on
the base create a conductive connection with the contact terminals
on the lighter. The contact terminals on the lighter are
operatively coupled to the internal circuitry of the lighter so
that electric power from the charging base is conducted into the
lighter and charges the batteries, capacitor, or super capacitor
within the lighter.
[0010] In another embodiment of the invention, the lighter has an
electric connection port and a wire with a jack can be inserted
into the port. The wire with jack is electrically coupled to an
electric power supply. The rechargeable power sources within the
candle lighter can thus be charged via this means.
[0011] An apparatus for igniting candles is provided, including an
electrical power source; an electronic circuit; a first switch; and
first and second electrodes at a first end of a housing, wherein
the electrical power source, the switch, and the first and second
electrodes are operatively coupled to the electronic circuit;
whereby activation of the electronic circuit by actuating the first
switch produces an electrical arc between the first and second
electrodes. The electrical power source and electronic circuit may
be positioned in the housing, and the housing may have an elongated
shape.
[0012] The housing may be sufficiently elongated to be held by hand
and to extend the first and second electrodes safely into a candle
with a wick in a recess while the hand remains outside the recess.
The electrical power source may be rechargeable. The apparatus may
include an electrically illuminated status indicator operatively
coupled to the electronic circuit.
[0013] The apparatus may also include contact terminals at a second
end of the housing, and a charging base having an opening to
receive the second end of the housing and thereby charge the power
source via the contact terminals.
[0014] The apparatus may include an electric connection port for
receiving a wire electrically coupled to a power supply to recharge
the power source. The apparatus may further include a second
switch, wherein both the first and second switches are actuated to
produce the electrical arc. The heat generated by the electric arc
should be sufficient to light a candle wick. After actuation of the
first switch, the electrical arc may be switched off after a
predetermined time.
[0015] The first switch may need to be actuated a predetermined
number of times before the second switch will operate. After the
first switch is actuated the predetermined number of times the
second switch may be actuatable for a predetermined period of
time.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0016] FIG. 1 is an isometric view of an embodiment of an
electronic candle lighter according to the invention, including a
candle lighter, a charging base, and a charging base power
cord.
[0017] FIG. 2 is an isometric view of an embodiment of an
electronic candle lighter according to the invention, including a
candle lighter, a charging base, and a charging base power cord
operatively coupled for charging.
[0018] FIG. 3 is an elevation view of an embodiment of an
electronic candle lighter according to the invention, including an
enlarged view the electrode end thereof.
[0019] FIG. 4 is an elevation view of an embodiment of an
electronic candle lighter according to the invention, oriented to
show the bottom of the electronic candle lighter.
[0020] FIG. 5 is a top view of an embodiment of a charging base for
use with an electronic candle lighter according to the
invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0021] Referring now to the drawings and more particularly FIG. 1,
there is shown a perspective view of a candle lighter (10)
according to the invention. Lighter (10) has a housing (11) having
a generally elongated and slender shape. Lighter (10) has two
distinct ends: electrode end (12) and hand held end (14) where the
operator grips lighter (10) with a hand.
[0022] Lighter (10) has two switches, power on switch (16) and arc
on switch (18). Although lighter (10) requires only a single
switch, this embodiment uses a combination of switches and switch
pressing patterns to improve safety and help prevent accidental
generation of an arc during handling and storage.
[0023] When the proper pattern of button presses occurs to actuate
power on switch (16), lighter (10) illuminates a Light Emitting
Diode (LED) for status indicator (20). The illumination of status
indicator (20) indicates to the user that lighter (10) is active
and only requires a single press and hold action of arc on switch
(18) to generate and maintain an electrical arc at the electrode
end (12) of candle lighter (10). When the user releases arc on
switch (18) then internal lighter (10) circuitry terminates the
electrical arc generation. The pattern can be as simple as one
press of power on switch (16), or a more complicated pattern, for
example, in an embodiment of the invention, power on switch (16) is
pressed five times, thereby providing arc on switch (18) control
for a three second period, during which arc on switch (18) can be
pressed and held to initiate the arc.
[0024] Again referring to FIG. 1, charging base (30) is depicted
for use with candle lighter (10). Charging base (30) requires an
electrical power supply and power cord (36) is shown for this
function. In the embodiment shown, power cord (36) is adapted to
plug into charging base (30) at one end, and then plug into a
computer port, such as a USB port, at the other end. Alternatively,
power cord (36) can plug into other electrical sources by changing
the plug on the cord end.
[0025] FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of the present invention
configured for charging and storage. Hand held end (14) of candle
lighter (10) is placed into charging base (30). As seen in FIG. 1,
the charging base has a receiving opening (32) similar in profile
to lighter (10), and shaped to receive hand held end (14). Stable
charging base (30) rests solidly on flat surfaces and holds candle
lighter (10) firmly via the receiving opening (32). Charging base
(30) may then be connected to a suitable power source via power
cord (36).
[0026] FIG. 4 shows lighter contact terminals (28) of the candle
lighter (10). The charging base contact terminals (34) of the
charging base (30) are shown in FIG. 5. When the lighter (10) is
placed into the charging base (30), the lighter contact terminals
(28) come into contact with the charging base contact terminals
(34). The mating of the contact terminals provides a conductive
pathway for electrical power within the charging base (30) to reach
the circuitry within the candle lighter (10).
[0027] FIG. 3 includes an enlarged view labeled as `Detail A` which
shows clearly the two small electrodes (22), (24) at electrode end
(12) of housing (11). The arc spans from electrode (22) to
electrode (24) when lighter (10) is generating an arc. The space
between electrode (22) and electrode (24) is the arc gap (26).
[0028] To ignite a candle wick, the wick should be positioned
within arc gap (26). When a wick is placed within arc gap (26) and
lighter (10) is generating an arc, the extremely high temperatures
of the arc ignite the materials within the wick of the candle. Arc
gap (26) and the area below arc gap (26) should be sized to provide
sufficient clearance for the combusting materials in the wick to
avoid damage to electrode end (12) of candle lighter (10) during
candle lighting.
[0029] The length of the lighter (10) and more specifically the
distance between the hand held end (14) and the electrode end (12)
has a relationship with how deep within a hole or recess a wick can
be reached.
[0030] In another embodiment, the internal control circuitry of
candle lighter (10) limits the time duration of arc generation
regardless of the button state of the arc on switch (18). The time
limit value can be predetermined at the time of manufacturing or
may be set afterwards. This functionality provides further safety
precautions for the unit to prevent overheating, accidental arc
generation, and deter misuse.
[0031] Although a few embodiments have been shown and described, it
will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various
changes and modifications might be made without departing from the
scope of the invention. The terms and expressions used in the
preceding specification have been used herein as terms of
description and not of limitation, and there is no intention in the
use of such terms and expressions of excluding equivalents of the
features shown and described or portions thereof, it being
recognized that the invention is defined and limited only by the
claims that follow.
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